Could biomarkers be a valid approach in trauma assessment?

12.02.2013

Our doctors and therapists at the CfT outpatient clinic mainly deal with post-traumatic stress disorders, in short PTSD. Yet this illness which is often caused by terrible war or persecution experiences is sometimes hard to diagnose in time since children and adolescents often suppress traumatic experiences during counselling sessions. This makes it harder to diagnose the illness and appropriate treatment. According to a New York Times article (published 6 Feb 2013), US researchers are now trying to understand the development of PTSD symptoms in war victims by drawing on genetic data, physiological measures and brain scans. If this works, these biomarkers could accelerate the process of diagnosing and treating PTSD. This would mean a significant progress for psycho-therapeutic work with refugee children, in particular since it would enable professionals to already control the therapy’s effect during the counselling sessions. Source: New York Times, 6 February 2013